On board the boat to Purika City, May was practicing with Bulbasaur for her next Pokémon Contest when she was approached by a Coordinator named Harley and his Cacturne. As Harley introduced himself, May scanned the Cactus Pokémon with her Pokédex and said it was scary. Harley then offered her some cookies, and May said they weren't half bad, but Harley private took offense to that. Later, Harley was seen taking a picture of May and sticking it in his scrapbook, drawing skulls and crossbones over the picture.

Determined to get revenge, Harley tricked Max into telling him an embarrassing story about May and secretly recorded it. Later, both May and Harley entered the Purika Contest. During the Performance Stage, May had Bulbasaur using Razor Leaf before telling her to use Vine Whip to hit the leaves, while Harley commanded Cacturne to use Bullet Seed to draw skull and crossbones on the field. The two of them managed to impress the Contest Judges enough to proceed to the Contest Battles.

When the match-ups for the Battle Stage were announced, May discovered that she would be battling Kent. In an attempt to sabotage May, Harley told her that the Pokémon used by Kent, a Surskit, is slow in battle. Despite the bad advice, May was able to win the battle and advance to the final round, where she found herself up against Harley.

During their battle, Harley played the tape he had recorded earlier, leaving May mortified and making her lose focus. However, May was able to bounce back and concentrate on the match, commanding Bulbasaur to use a combination of Petal Dance and Razor Leaf to secure her victory. As a result, she was declared the winner of the competition and presented with the Purika Ribbon, her fourth Contest Ribbon overall.